wrestling / Video Reviews
Hawke’s Jeff Peterson Memorial Cup 2011 Review
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For those who have never heard of the Jeff Peterson Memorial Cup, it was an annual tournament in Florida that was done in honor of the indie wrestler, Jeff Peterson. After originally being promoted by NWA Florida for a few years, it was taken over by FIP through 2011*.
*The final edition was officially not under the FIP banner despite it being promoted by the same people in WNN…I don’t know. WWN is fucking weird.
The 2011 edition happened in late October and received rave reviews from those in attendance (meager attendance as it was). For FIP and WWN in general, it seemed like perfect timing for a feel-good weekend. Evolve was in disarray. DGUSA had lost much of its luster. WWN was basically bleeding goodwill.
A tournament full of fresh and exciting names with a reportedly great environment and getting great live press seemed like something that could only benefit WWN.
But they did not capitalize on the positivity radiating from the weekend. Fans tried their best to convince the promotion to release the shows, but WWN somehow never did. It was a baffling decision. The only silver lining was that as the months went by, the tournament’s reputation only grew and created increased demand for the shows to be released. The hype became so much so quickly that I decided I would do my best to stay spoiler free all these years later, and I was mostly able to accomplish that as I only learned about the results of the tournament in the broadest of strokes.
Releasing the shows on DVD/Blu-Ray/OnDemand seemed like an easy way to make money. The shows languished though in unwatched obscurity. Sure, a few things leaked out via handcam here and there, but it was not the same thing.
Luckily for me, one of my closest friends in the world got married recently, and he was gifted the only copy of the show. I of course made sure, in my week down in Florida for the wedding, that I watched the tournament. I needed to see for myself if the weekend was as good as people said. It was finally time to find out.
October 28, 2011
Brooksville, Florida, USA
Commentator: Lenny “Lenny Leonard” Leonard
There were some non-tournament matches on this night. The show kicked off with a tag team battle royal. The purpose for this battle royal was not immediately clear.
Brooklyn Shore (Francisco Ciatso & Mickael Zaki) vs. Bryan Maddox & CJ O’Doyle vs. Bumz R’ Us (Mr. Milo Beasley & Ray Beez) vs. Josh Rayne & Matt Ripley vs. Los Ben Dejos (Ben Dejo & Marty Con Dejo) vs. Moco Loco & South Bronx Sadist vs. Ninja With Attitudes (Eddie Taurus & Kaotic Romeo) vs. The Highwaymen (Butch Long & Marc Mandrake) vs. The Misled Youth (Joshua Masters & Jude Mackenzie) vs. The Scene (Caleb Konley & Scott Reed) vs. The Worlds Largest All Knighters (Joey Knight & Shooter Storm)
Combining Florida shindie workers, The Scene, Larry Dallas, gay jokes on commentary, and the royal rumble format for a tag team match, and you have yourselves a truly unpleasant experience. When you step back and realize this match only happened at the time to put over the new team of CALEB KONLEY AND SCOTT REED then oof baboof. (DUD)
As their reward, The Scene got a shot at the FIP Tag Team Championship later in the night. The stipulation for the match was seemingly only announced once the match got down to the final couple of teams.
The Scene got their title shot against the Dark City Fight Club in the semi-main event of this show. It was barely any better that the battle royal that led to it.
It is so funny how small indies can do things that make their promotion seem like such a shindie. The DCFC basically killed the Scene the whole match. Then a masked man jumped DCFC from behind and literally put Caleb on Jon’s beaten body. Such an inspired title change. Why. What about this experience would endear the promotion to its fans? (1/4*)
Luckily, the story of THE SCENE’s rise on this night was but a very small and insignificant portion of the show. The majority of the show was made up of the eight singles contests from the first round of the tournament.
Lince Dorado vs. Louis Lyndon
This was fine. They did a bunch of stuff. Some of it was quite cool. The best thing they had going for themselves was that they managed to not make the match feel like it was going a million miles an hour. That allowed their many spots to feel modestly more important as there was enough space between the flashier stuff so that they could stand out. Beyond that though, the match was really just okay. [Lince won after an SSP.] (**1/2)
Aaron Epic vs. Jerrelle Clark
Tournament matches often need to be worked in a more selfless manner. On a show like this where there are going to be 8 singles matches, every match cannot seek to be the “MATCH OF THE YEAR!!!” style match that US indie workers so desperately cling to when they think they are in a big spot (which seems to be always).
This match would clearly never be the most memorable of the night (let alone the weekend), but the wrestlers did their job exceptionally well. Jerrelle got jumped before the match started (he was distracting himself by TEBOWING in the most dated moment of the show), and then got worked over at a nice crisp pace.
Jerrelle picked his spots perfectly throughout the match to prevent things from getting monotone, and he managed to pull off some cool stuff to make things more competitive. He eventually had to bust out a piledriver variation outta nowhere to steal the win. GOOD stuff. (***1/4)
Mike Cruz vs. Pinkie Sanchez
Pinkie Sanchez was one of the more frustrating wrestlers from this time period in the US indie scene. He clearly wanted to be a cerebral performer in the ring, but he also combined his focused leg work with trashy character moments and nonsensical big spots. All of that was on display here in this match that started to overachieve and then largely lost focus when it mattered most. The match was, in other words, at times pleasantly surprising and then a disappointment in the end. It was very Pinkie Sanchez. (**1/2)
Bobby Fish vs. Jonathan Gresham
Gresham and Fish are natural opponents, as they are both often able to seamlessly blend grappling and strikes into beautiful sequences. There was plenty of that here, and it was a treat to watch.
They went for something more with this match though instead of just relying on those kinds of sequences. Fish would sporadically target the leg of Gresham, and Gresham would to the same to an arm of Fish. This work was done well and interesting to watch. There was no real payoff to any of it though.
They got away from it towards the end, and the finish (an admittedly awesome kick to the head from Fish) did not even call back to it. This was a good match that could have been great. I can see the work on the limbs being enough for some to call it great though even without a payoff. (***½)
Flip Kendrick vs. Johnny Vandal
Given how unappealing this matchup was on paper, in some ways it was the most pleasant surprise of the first round. It was not exactly “good” (due to the lack of creativity) but it kept things so simple that the wrestlers gave themselves a near idiot-proof match.
They kept a good pace. The blander guy worked heel. The cool flips guy worked babyface. They did not overstay their welcome all that much (although they really walked to the edge of the cliff on that one). And the wrestler the crowd liked went over. It was all fine. (**3/4)
Chris Jones vs. Papadon
These two had an easy dynamic staring directly at them: big obnoxious dude vs. fiery tiny dude. They did not overthink that fortunately and took full advantage of the easy story just sitting right there for them. Both guys played their roles well, and the fans were all in on it.
Because it’s US indie wrestling, they of course had to go too long and nearly ruin the goodwill they accrued. It was still a rock-solid tournament match though and did its job just well enough. [Papadon won after a piledriver.] (***)
AR Fox vs. Jake Manning
THE MANSCOUT and AR Fox having a fun, sprint-y spotfest is the funniest good match of all time. After years of reading hype for this tournament, it would have been expected that it failed to meet the expectations. However, when matches like this one deliver big time then you know it was a special weekend.
They just worked at a great clip, everything looked crisp af, and they conveyed a sense of urgency and competition that sucked everybody in to the work. Just GOOD stuff. [Fox won with Lo Mein Pain.] (***1/2)
Johnny Gargano vs. John Silver
The success of night 1 of this tournament was predicated on the idea that the wrestlers worked smart matches that did not rely on US indie tropes and cliches. This one tragically fell into that trap though, as they worked an “epic style” match that felt completely out of place with the rest of the show.
Given that it was the main event, the temptation to “do more” is a bit more understandable, but it did just feel like a phoned in “epic” main event which is basically never satisfying. Oh well. (Gargano submitted Silver to win.] (**1/4)
October 29, 2011
Crystal River, Florida, USA
Commentator: Lenny “Lenny Leonard” Leonard
Night two started off with the news that Lince Dorado pulled out of the show. The intention was to do a freestyle match with the eight dudes who lost their first round match. The Manscout pulled out of the match due to having “bigger plans” for later in the evening. Then Pinkie Sanchez got run off by Dark City Fight Club due to him apparently being the masked man to cost them the FIP Tag Team Championship.
Jonathan Gresham vs. John Silver vs. Louis Lyndon vs. Johnny Vandal vs. Chris Jones vs. Aaron Epic
Sadly, this match got night 2 off to a really uninspired start. The action was predominantly made up of labored sequences and movez that did not look smooth or organic at all. If night 1 succeeded in large part due to the wrestlers being self-aware enough to know their lane, this opener failed due to wrestlers trying to do too much and not recognizing their limitations as performers.
The silver lining though was that Jonathan Gresham was far and away the best choice to win the match and advance in the tournament…and FIP decided to do just that. (**)
2011 Jeff Peterson Memorial Cup Quarterfinal Matches
Jerrelle Clark vs. Mike Cruz
This one was close to being good. The match was mostly about cool movez and looking like a badass. That’s all you need sometimes. Clark in particular really excelled when the match was just about that. They dragged it out a little bit too much though, and they never had the full momentum you would want for this kind of match. Cruz winning with a fruit roll-up also was a real unsatisfying way of ending things. Solid effort though. (**½)
AR Fox vs. Flip Kendrick
This was all spots and movez all the time. This match succeeded where the previous did not because it happened in a far tighter package, and the match played to both men’s strengths. They also thankfully tried to get crazier and crazier as the match went on which always helps in a match like this one. [Fox won with Lo Mein Pain.] (***)
Bobby Fish vs. Papadon
This was fine enough. Papadon was way too methodical in how he worked and way too bland in what he did. That is a bad combination in a situation where said wrestler controlled the majority of the match. Fish looked solid enough at least, and he went over cleanly which was far and away the right call. (**1/4)
Jonathan Gresham vs. Johnny Gargano
These two worked the exact match they needed to work, which is to say that Gresham dominated the majority of the match and Gargano won quickly at the last second. That story worked both on a logic level and from a sense of what would make for the highest quality.
Gresham already worked a match in the evening. He could not afford to be passive by any stretch of the imagine. Gargano meanwhile just needed a sequence of big movez to knock Gresham off, and he managed to do just that. Rock-solid storytelling and wrestling. (***¼)
FIP Florida Heritage Championship Open Challenge
The Manscout came out to issue an OPEN CHALLENGE. The best part of this promo was that the crowd could not have cared less. It was rather remarkable how little they reacted to Manscout.
The Manscout(c) vs. Uhaa Nation
Uhaa won the belt quickly and cleanly. (Good!)
2011 Jeff Peterson Memorial Cup Semifinal Matches
AR Fox vs. Bobby Fish
They used a simple match format to keep this one interesting in fun. Fish dominated a lot of the match, but he made sure to mix in some good kicks and fun movez. Fox made sporadic comebacks with his wild offense and wasted no time with what little offense he got in, and it just became a question of which strategy would finish off the other first.
You would think so at least. They threw in a twist though.
Fish deviated from what was working at the end at the last second and went for his (beautiful) double jump moonsault. He came up empty, and Fox immediately capitalized by catching Fish with a pinning combo to squeak out the victory. Solid stuff! (***¼)
Johnny Gargano vs. Mike Cruz
This was fine. The story could best be described as two worn-out guys just kinda fighting through exhaustion to get through the match instead of doing anything all that impressive. The best way to work that match is to make it kinda wild with both wrestlers just sort of helplessly and recklessly flailing around in there. Instead, it was just sort of there…with no real sense of urgency, danger, or physicality. [Gargano won cleanly via Gargano Escape.] (**¼)
Before the tournament could conclude, the main subplot of the weekend needed to be continued. The Scene refused to defend the belts so DCFC showed up to “fight.”
The Dark City Fight Club (Jon Davis & Kory Chavis) vs. The Scene (Caleb Konley & Scott Reed) & Pinkie Sanchez
This was dull af, and no one cared. The crowd did enjoy Larry Dallas getting pounced after the match. [Davis pinned Pinkie to win the match.] (¼*)
This whole storyline was terribly executed all weekend long.
2011 Jeff Peterson Memorial Cup Final
Johnny Gargano vs. AR Fox
It’s kinda funny to go back and watch this match after this whole tournament with some hindsight. It was clear by this point that Gargano was the golden child and chosen one. Even now in 2018, he’s the golden child and chosen one all over again but for the WWE.
Fox really outclassed him all weekend here though and especially in this match. While Fox was, and is always going to be, a flawed performer, he makes sure to go all in on his strengths at all times and his strengths still make him a unique performer.
Gargano is also a flawed performer, but he is nowhere near the performer that Fox is most nights. Gargano is basically a weird amalgamation of WWE and indie tropes can really work out well sometimes but also can be wholly unsatisfying.
All of that was on display here in this final (and the whole weekend). Gargano was going about his business doing a solid effort. AR Fox meanwhile was just trying to kill himself to get this match over, and he managed to do just that. Fox was truly the better wrestler on this night. He threw everything he had at Gargano, and the latter just did not have enough in the tank to withstand all that offense. [Fox won cleanly with Lo Mein Pain.] (***)
After the final, Jerrelle Clark thanked everyone for honoring Jeff Peterson and then announced his retirement.
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